Boston fans queued up through the Red Sox Walk of Fame outside of JetBlue Park at Fenway South on Saturday morning to purchase tickets for the 2013 exhibition season. Fans have been camping out in line for tickets for over a week. Scott Butherus/Staff

Boston fans queued up through the Red Sox Walk of Fame outside of JetBlue Park at Fenway South on Saturday morning to purchase tickets for the 2013 exhibition season. Fans have been camping out in line for tickets for over a week. Scott Butherus/Staff

FORT MYERS – Rows of tents and lawn chairs wrapped around JetBlue Park as fans occupied the sidewalks of Fenway South on Saturday. They weren't there to demand an end to corporate greed, or economic reform, or even the institution of video replay in baseball. They were there to assert their rights as Floridians to spend their afternoons in March sipping beer while Big Papi launches some rookie's hanging breaking ball into the powder-blue spring skyline.

Nearly 180 fans — some of which have been camped out the entire week — lined up at the box office of the Boston Red Sox spring training home by 9 a.m. to purchase their tickets for the 2013 exhibition stadium. For many, the occupation has become a tradition and after a second straight turbulent season that saw the Red Sox finish last in the American League East with a 69-93 record, those fans are ready to be the first to see what the upcoming future holds.

"I've been either first or second in line for the last 11 years. We come out here just to hang out, talk baseball, get our tickets and just have a good time. It's like a week long tailgate party," said Derek DeArmond, who arrived in line for tickets last Saturday night. "There were seven of us here by Monday and we started getting most of the new faces last night."

"We've been doing this year after year and it seems like the right thing to do," David Frost, who joined the occupation in between the monuments of the Red Sox Walk of Fame on Monday. "Besides, somebody's got to keep the flame burning, keep the tradition going. It might as well be us. Hopefully we'll have a better season and get even more people next year."

As of late Saturday afternoon all games were still available, however, several games were approaching sellouts including the games against the American League East rival New York Yankees on Sunday, March 3, and against the Tampa Bay Rays on St. Patrick's Day, Sunday, March 17. In 2012, a franchise record 151,713 fans attended the 16-game home schedule, all of which were considered sellouts.

Even though DeArmond and his friends know that the same tickets became available online, the opportunity to spend time among like-minded fans is worth much more than the $4 he would save per ticket on service charges.

"This year, we had our tiki bar set up and we've got the grill out here going. We had a putt-putt golf course, bocce ball, horseshoes. We had cornhole and we had 'soda' pong games going too," he explained.

The Red Sox will have a lot of new faces when pitchers and catchers report to Southwest Florida on Tuesday, Feb 12. Gone are longtime franchise mainstays Josh Beckett and Kevin Youkilis, along with high-priced stars Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez, and manager Bobby Valentine. In their place will be recent free agent acquisitions Shane Victorino and Mike Napoli, and manager John Farrell.

"Third place? Is that what we're predicting?" Frost asked the surrounding group.

"The offseason trades haven't been that great but regardless we are Red Sox fans, win, lose, or draw," DeArmond said. "As you can see the line isn't as long as it has been some years but those of us that are die-hard fans are here."

Although the roster has changed dramatically, one thing that will remain the same from last season will be the ticket prices from last year's inaugural season at Fenway South, the team's $77.8 million complex that was designed to emulate the Red Sox regular season home.

Tickets for Boston's 20 home games range from $46 for dugout box seats behind home plate and $35 for seats in the side the replica 'Green Monster' wall in left field, to $10 for reserved bleachers and $5 for general admission lawn seating, and are available at the stadium box office weekdays between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., online at redsox.com, or by phone at 888-REDSOX6.

Boston will open its spring schedule on Thursday, February 21, with a doubleheader against the Northeastern University Huskies and the Boston College Eagles beginning at 1:35 p.m. The Red Sox will kick off their Grapefruit League schedule at home with a game against the Rays on Saturday, February 23, at 1:35 p.m. It is the first of six games against the Rays.

The Red Sox will face fellow Lee County denizens, the Minnesota Twins, eight times this spring with the series being split four at home and four at nearby Hammond Stadium.